BLOOMSBURG, Pa. – After giving up a late first half goal, the #9-ranked Bloomsburg women's soccer team responded quickly and often as the Huskies defeated Shippensburg, 4-1, Wednesday evening at Steph Pettit Stadium. With the win, the Huskies improved to 11-1 on the year and 9-1 in Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) Eastern Division action while the Raiders fell to 5-7 and 3-7 in the PSAC East.
 
Bloomsburg pushed its winning streak to nine games and have out-scored opponents 24-4 during that run.
 
After a nearly scoreless first half, the Raiders struck first as Julia Dalton collected a pass from Alyse Caffrey in traffic and tucked the ball into the near post for the 1-0 lead at the 35.23 mark. The lead would be short-lived, however, as junior Christina Podpora (Elysburg, Pa./Southern Columbia) evened the score 18 seconds later. Freshman Abby Groff (Sellersville, Pa./Pennridge) got an initial shot off but her strike just grazed the inside of the right-side post and ricocheted to Podpora who was waiting by the left-side and drilled the ball into an open corner for her second goal of the year.
 
Shippensburg got one final shot off but it went high and the two teams settled for a 1-1 tie at the break.

Coming out of halftime, the Huskies took the lead just 40 seconds into play as the Bloomsburg attack put pressure on the Raiders back line and a Raider defender chipped the ball back to the goalie but just out of her reach and into the goal for an own goal that benefited Bloomsburg.
 
The Huskies built on that lead as junior Maggie McDonald (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) took a cross from senior Maggie Callan and one-timed it with her right foot into the back-left corner to give Bloomsburg a 3-1 lead in the 47^th minute.
 
Shippensburg had a good chance to get one back with a corner kick in the 53^rd minute, but the Huskies defense stood strong in front of their goalie, red-shirt junior Jenna Hawkins (Fleetwood, Pa./Fleetwood), and cleared the ball out without allowing the Raiders to get a shot off. The Huskies continued to control the pace of play and worked the ball back into their offensive half. After a corner kick by junior Lauren Hoelke (Blackwood, N.J./Highland Regional) was wrestled around into front of the net, sophomore Nicole Varano (Mt. Carmel, Pa./Mt. Carmel) was eventually able to control the ball and bury her sixth goal of the year to the right of the goalie.
 
After giving up a shot in the first minute of the second half, the Bloomsburg defense allowed just one shot for the rest of the half, both shots were saved by Hawkins.
 
McDonald led the Huskies in shots with three as Bloomsburg out-shot Shippensburg 12-8 for the game. Hawkins posted three saves while the defense picked up one team save. Bloomsburg led 5-4 in corner kicks as well.
 
Bloomsburg wraps its home stand this weekend as the ninth-ranked Huskies host Mansfield at Steph Pettit Stadium for a 4:30 PSAC East contest. The Mountaineers enter Saturday's contest with a 1-10 overall record and a 1-8 slate in conference play.